I have at this point a pretty solid quantity of vintage American OO models, but one model, a pretty iconic one, I did not own: the yellow boxcar. This was produced by Lionel in 1938 only. Any good example will sell for more than I’m willing to pay, and also I’ve focused on all the other OO lines much more.

But clearly, from this photo, I do own one now. People who follow eBay closely probably saw this one a couple months ago in a lot with some other cars that had little more than parts value. This yellow 0014 has, of course, been modified. If it were me, back in those prewar days, I would have likely of repainted the model totally. A yellow boxcar? Although, of course, there were yellow MKT boxcars, and colorful reefers and such.

Whoever owned this example of the yellow 0014 had an idea how to make it better, and they painted the roof and ends boxcar red. Of course this has ruined the remaining collector value of this somewhat beat model. But to be honest the boxcar red areas added result in kind of a nice look for the car.

I’ve worked on it to the extent it is on good trucks, has couplers, and has been cleaned up a bit. I need to replace the door on the other side and I’m inclined to think about touching up all the boxcar red areas when I do that door. No rush, though, and I’m enjoying this rare if modified model.